The feast will be held in the Dustiness Mansion. It's a bit unexpected since Paradox said that it's supposed to be 'Kingdom Arc'. So I'm guessing that something impressive must happen later that will turn this into a proper kingdom arc.
Megumin, Liz, Aqua, Yunyun, Elena, and I arrived in the mansion and stepped out of the Fantastic Dreamer Carriage. A bunch of entourage welcomed us and quickly led us into the mansion.
We've already prepared a special dress for any occasion back in Alcanretia. So I don't have to rent any suits or dresses for the rest of the girls.
Aqua wore a beautiful white dress worthy of the greatest archpriest to ever walk the earth. With golden linings and a simple yet elegant design, it was made to be used not only for formal wear but also for special priest events.
Yunyun wore a black dress that accentuates her young and yet well endowed figure. With a gap that shows her cleavage and the dress itself that barely covers her thighs. Complete with a matching pair of stockings, it is a dress used not only for party but also usable when things get serious.
Megumin wore a black dress that hugged her thin lithe figure tightly and a black eyepatch that sealed her magic. A red string pattern tied the dress in her chest area and the bottom of the dress has frills resembling flames. She looks incredibly beautiful and dangerous in it, like an approachable beauty she is.
I decided to use a black suit and dark red ties. I also wanted to bring along a top hat with me, but Megumin blew it out of existence the moment she set her eyes on it.
As for Elizabeth, well… I decided not to dress her up and let her use whatever she wants. She picked a cute purple dress with black flames pattern at the bottom. She asked if she should hide her wings, but I told her not to.
This is partly because I wanted to see how the royalties will react in the presence of an actual dragon. If they can't accept the fact that my daughter is a dragon then I will tell the to go fuck themselves, manners be damned.
"Satou Kazuma-sama and ladies. We're honored by your visit. Today, I, Dustiness ford Lalatina, will be your hostess. Please treat this as your own home and enjoy yourselves."
Darkness welcomed us the moment we stepped into the mansion. She wore a pure white gown with her long blonde hair braided beautifully and hanging over her right shoulder. It's a dress fitting for any aristocrat lady everywhere, but somehow, doesn't feel right for the crusader.
"Thank you, we will be in your care,"
Lady Dustiness led us into the mansion with a bunch of escorts surrounding us. She shot a suspicious look at us every now and then while taking us to the waiting room. We sat down along with everyone else and took a deep breath of relief.
"Welcome everyone," Darkness took a deep breath and looked at Liz sitting between me and Megumin.
"How are you Liz? Do your best to behave, alright? These people are going to look down on you, but please be patient okay?"
Liz turned towards the direction of the dining room where the princess is waiting for us.
"The atmosphere is heavy and artificial, every voice are laced with lies and deceit, the eyes of the beholder are shackles and prison to its prey. It's a cold, dark world, where the expression of love, joy, sadness, and all that comes from the heart are frowned upon."
Everyone but Megumin just stared at Liz with wide eyes.
"She meant it's too stuffy here, Darkness," Megumin replied. "Liz sees the world differently than we do. She judges innocence, honesty, love, loyalty, and more, not by sight and hearing, but by her other senses."
Darkness nodded in realization. "I see… So that's why she was so quick to judge and kill that monster… the Tranquility Girl, was it? Without any mercy, she knew it's a monster that tries to trick us."
Megumin smiled and pet Liza's head. "Yes, my girl is best when it comes to judging people."
"Alright, but still, please don't say something like that in front of the nobles, okay? If anything, please keep quiet," after that Darkness turned to Yunyun who looked just a little bit uncomfortable.
"What about you Yunyun? Any problem?"
Yunyun shook her head. "No, I just didn't expect this to be… this formal. I mean, I'm the daughter of the chief and I felt like my father haven't taught me anything useful so far…"
"It's alright, just keep quiet and I'll do the talking,"
Darkness then turned to Megumin and I.
"No Crimson Demon introduction, I repeat, no Crimson Demon introduction. Simply stating your name and job is alright, okay?"
Megumin and I gave her a thumb up.
Darkness then turned to Aqua. Her expression softened as she slowly pleaded to her.
"Please don't do anything stupid… I beg you…"
Aqua smiled and gently stroked Darkness's head.
"Your worries are misplaced, for I shall show my greatest performance in the eyes of the princess!"
Darkness looked like she wanted to cry as she turned towards me.
"It's really cool, actually,"
The Crusader leaned back on the chair and exhaled in defeat.
"This is the day they stripped me off my nobility…"
---
Darkness led us to a vast, high-class dining hall that wasn't overly extravagant. The hall was illuminated by candles and was well lit. The floor was covered with red carpet and some chandeliers hangs from the ceilings.
Several servants surrounded the table quite some distance away, waiting quietly.
A large table with all sorts of fancy dishes sat in the middle of the red carpet laden room. At the head of the table was a girl who was dressed in white, just like Aqua and Darkness.
On either side of the girl stood two young women.
One wore a black dress and was unarmed, and looked a little plain. Though judging from the rings with sharp edges shining on her hand, she was probably a mage.
The other woman wasn't wearing a dress, but a white suit. A short haired beauty with a sword on her waist.
It was probably inappropriate for the young princess to have male knights as guards, which was why her attendants were women.
"Please behave…"
Darkness whispered one last time before slowly bringing us to face them.
"Sorry for the wait, Princess Iris. These are my friends and my adventuring comrades, Satou Kazuma and his team. This way, my friends. This is the first princess of the kingdom, Her Highness Iris. Please introduce yourselves with the adequate etiquette."
I took a closer look at the princess. Semi-long golden locks and clear blue eyes. An air of innocence with the weigh of the world resting on her shoulder. Sheltered from her people yet responsible for their well being.
"What do you think Megumin?"
"I dunno, appearance can be deceiving,"
"Right, but she's cute though, like a little sister or something,"
All three girls standing in front of us has their eyes on Liz. The knight lady looked just a little bit wary as her hands shifted closer to her sword. This is an adequate reaction and I do not blame them to fear her.
Aqua stepped forward and bowed politely in a practiced movement. "I am Aqua, the Archpriest and Bard of the Fantastic Dreamers," she raised her head and smiled at the princess. "It is my honor to meet you, princess…"
Darkness sighed in relief beside me.
Yunyun stepped forward and bowed in similar fashion. "I am Yunyun, the Archwizard of the Fantastic Dreamer and the Chief's Daughter of the Crimson Demon Village," she raised her head and smiled at the princess. "It's a pleasure to meet you princess, I hope we can build a good relation with each other…"
Megumin stepped forward and Darkness stiffened.
"I am Megumin," her tone was still that of a Crimson Demon, but she didn't raise her voice. "Archwizard who has mastered the Explosion Spell and the Strongest Member of the Fantastic Dreamer," she lowered her head slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Iris-dono…"
Darkness shot Megumin a look, but didn't say anything.
Then, it's my turn.
I bowed politely in front of her. "My name is Satou Kazuma, an adventurer and the leader of the Fantastic Dreamers," I raised my head and meet her gaze. "I am the Hero of Axel, the living witness of the battle between Goddess Aqua and Evil God Wolbach, and the Champion of Lady Paradox the Goddess of Wisdom and Trickery. It is a pleasure to meet you princess."
The three of them looked at me with wide eyes, but they're still more curious about Liz standing beside me.
"I am Emperor Queen Elizabeth the Champion of the Goddess Aqua," the girl said so with utmost confidence. "I am a dragon, blessed by the Goddess Aqua to become the future ruler of all Dragons. I am the progeny of the most powerful Arch wizard to ever walk the earth and the greatest adventurer in the world,"
The Dragon stared at the Princess right in the eyes. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Iris dono,"
Darkness put a hand on her forehead, but still looked relieved after everything is done with.
The princess then whispered something to the white suited female attendant. I was about to turn on my lip reading skills but I was too late.
"How did a lowly plebeian like you managed to tame yourself a pet dragon? Much less an intelligent one that was blessed by the Goddess of Water? The princess said."
"The seal works by the way,"
"I'm glad to hear that but please don't push it…"
I turned to Liz and saw her staring at them flatly. I smiled and gently stroked her head before looking straight at the princess.
"You are mistaken princess, Elizabeth isn't a pet, she is an intelligent creature just like us and I treat her as my own daughter," I gently took her hand. "I gained her trust by treating her with love and respect. You can do the same by stop referring people with lower status as a lowlife, maybe then you'll have yourself a dragon companion."
The two attendees glared at me after hearing that, but held themselves back.
"Easy there Kazuma," Aqua said with a sheepish smile. She then turned towards the princess. "Now, Iris sama, to commemorate our meeting, allow me to make you a portrait of you, it won't take longer than one minute by the blessings of the Goddess Aqua,"
Iris quickly straightened her posture. She lightly dabbed her mouth with a handkerchief before staring straight at Aqua.
The goddess in disguise began her work. She took out a frame out of nowhere, spread glue over it and sprinkles sands on top of it. She completed it in no time at all before showing the picture.
It is a sand painting of Iris. At a distance, one would mistook it for a black and white photo. All details were captured perfectly by the photo, even the slightest of imperfection in her braids.
"This is for you, please accept it, Princess Iris…"
Aqua showed the princess the portrait. She gasped a little at the sight of it before whispering to her attendant.
"To draw such a perfect sand painting in so little time…! Amazing, simply amazing! A reward for you! The princess said."
The woman in white suit handed Aqua a small gem. I could tell it's worth quite a fortune, probably somewhere around half a million to a million Eris.
"Ah, thank you so much princess…"
Aqua was about to hand the gem to Darkness out of habit before the crusader shot her a warning look. Confused, Aqua slowly pocketed the gem.
The princess narrowed her eyes and was about to whisper something when Darkness beat her to it.
"Ano, Iris sama, Aqua didn't mean to give it to me," the crusader cleared her throat. "We, Kazuma's Party, Fantastic Dreamers has a shared bounty policy. All earnings from our quests and adventures went to the party's budget. We all get a daily salary of twenty five thousand Eris and we all have the right to use the money for our needs,"
Darkness took a deep breath and exhaled.
"I am the party's treasury, as such, it has become the habit of everyone here to give me any valuables they found during our adventures. That includes money and precious gems."
The princess whispered something to her attendant.
"Impressive, as expected of Dustiness Ford Lalatina for implementing such a clever system on this party."
Darkness shook her head. "I did not implemented this system, the shared bounty policy was made by our party leader, Satou Kazuma. I am just trusted by him to keep the money for safekeeping."
With that, we finally sat on the dining table. Yunyun and I were instructed to sit on the princess's left while the rest sits on the right, with Liz being the furthest away from her.
Well, you wouldn't want to sit next to a dragon you just potentially pissed off, right?
As we sat down as instructed, Her Highness stared at me and whispered to the white-suited woman.
"Are you the one the brave magic sword user Mitsurugi mentioned? Let me hear your story, Her Highness said… I also want to hear about how you defeated that Mitsurugi."
I simply chuckled at that. "I think there was a misunderstanding, I didn't defeat Kyoya san in a fair fight. I was a level twelve adventurer back then and he was a level thirty. I can't win against him in a sword fight no matter how skilled I am,"
The female bodyguard nodded in realization.
"Then, how did you defeat him?"
I snapped my fingers and a small a candle fire appeared at my finger tips. I blow it off and simply enjoyed the surprised look on their face. "The blessing of my goddess gave me the power to tap into the very core of magic and spells. I can do chantless casting and spell. Using that, I simply do this,"
I raised my hand and a short sword appeared in my hands. The bodyguard's eyes widened in surprise after seeing that. She checked her waist and found that the sword safely strapped on her waist is missing.
"I did this and knocked him out before he can do anything," I handed her the sword. "Here's your sword back,"
The princess whispered something to her body guard.
"Please tell me more about your adventurers, the princess said."
Well then, story time!